古潮音洞

Guchaoyin Cave

Useful Information

Location:	Niejiahe Town, Yidu, Hubei 443306. (30.287383, 111.296532)
Open:
Fee:
Classification:	Karst Cave
Light:	Incandescent Coloured Light
Dimension:	T=17 °C.
Guided tours:
Photography:
Accessibility:
Bibliography:
Address:	Guchaoyin Cave, Niejiahe Town, Yidu, Hubei 443306, Tel: +86-717-477-0124.
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1883	the ninth generation of Xiejiaying visits the cave and leaves inscriptions.
1982	during the cultural relics survey the inscriptions were discovered.

Description

古潮音洞 (Gǔ cháo yīn dòng, Ancient Chaoyin Cave) is also called Xiejia Cave. The cave was named after the magical tide sound in the cave, cháo yīn translates Tide Music, obviously the literal translation is not very nice, so the cave is generally called Guchaoyin Cave in guidebooks. The name Xiejia Cave is based on the following legend, and Xiejiaying, who was the leader of an army and hid in the cave with his men.

The Peasants Revolting Army and its leader Lizicheng in the late Ming Dynasty was beaten in a fight against the government army, so they marched to the southwest. When they passed the Niejiahe Town, the army of the local nobles led by Xiejiaying fought against the Peasants Army. After several fights the Xiejiaying army were defeated and ran away to the Guchaoyin Cave. The cave was easy to defend, and as the pursuers realized that a few soldiers could defend against an army of 10,000 due to the geometry of the cave, they gave up and continued to march to the southwest.

The cave was formed in carbonatic sandstone which is about 530 Ma old from the Cambrian era. It has two levels, the lower level is a river cave and the upper level is a fossil cave with numerous speleothems. The cave is at the far end of the small scenic area, a stone staircase leads up to the cave portal. The surrounding limestone walls are full of stalagmites, so the cave was obviously much longer, but the entrance section collapsed. A passage with numerous speleothems follows. The biggest pillar or stalagnate is 29 m high and 38 m in diameter, and they say it was the largest pillar in China. As always such superlatives are either invented or outdated, and we guess this pillar is not the biggest any more for many years now. However, it is quite impressive nevertheless.

There is an official list of four wonders, which are the most spectacular features of the cave. The First Wonder is an endemic troglobiontic "fish" which is called crystal fish. Its body is pigmentless, so it is transparent, and five different organs can be seen from outside. This is obviously the result of the adaption to the dark cave. However, despite looking like a fish this is actually the larvae of a frog and after a few months it grows into a forest frog. The Second Wonder is the mist inside the cave. Of course, there is no mist in the cave, but the cave air has a constant temperature of 17 °C and humidity of 100%. As a result it is heavier than the outside air during summer and autumn and flows out of the cave portal, where the humidity condenses and forms mist. It actually looks like mist floating out of the cave entrance. The Third Wonder is the sound of water in the cave which sounds like the tide, after which the cave was named. The origin is the lower level with its cave river. This river has rapids which produce sounds which resonate in the shafts which connect lower and upper layer. And finally the Fourth Wonder is artificial, the 45 m deep iron staircase which connects upper and lower level.

The cave is visited on self-guided tours. The visitors enter the upper level through the entrance portal and follow this level through speleothems to a staircase. Walking down the long staircase requires the ability to walk staircases and a little physical fitness. Finally, a jetty at the cave river in the lower level is reached. Boats drive in and out continually and collect the visitors at the jetty. They show the lower level on a calm boat trip along the 18 m high, 6 m wide, and 125 m long river passage. At the widest point it is 20 m wide. The cave is left by boat.

The cave has ancient carvings, which are, as typical for China, Chinese letters. Five stone carvings from the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty can be seen on the stone wall at the cave entrance. They are said to be from the ninth generation of Xiejiaying, who visited the cave in 1883 to learny about their ancestor. They were so deeply moved, they wrote some odes, and let stonemasons carve them on the walls of the cave. They were rediscovered during the cultural relics survey in 1982. Now they are protected as Historic Monuments.

Ancient Chaoyin Cave is located at a AAA scenic area which also offers Yuyang River Rafting, Tianhe River Rafting, and Leisure and Holiday Village. It is located at road G241 which runs along Yuyang river, south of Niejiahe. The entrance to the scenic area is an 8 m high and 113 m wide antique archway. It has a central gate and two smaller gates on the sides. It is decorated with four huge bird-like sculptures and a huge circular plate in the center. At the foot of the main gate on both sides is a white marble sculpture of a tiger. The gate shows typical characteristics of the local Bachu culture.